Nets survive latest scare and win season series against Bucks for first time in 11 years

Facing a three-game losing streak, Thursday night’s game against the Bucks in Milwaukee was a pivotal interconference matchup for the Brooklyn Nets. After narrowly defeating the then-defeated NBA Cup champions exactly one week ago, Brooklyn replicated their success with another thrilling 113-110 road victory.

From the beginning, the Nets essentially played five-on-three.

No Bucks outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Damian Lillard and Khris Middleton gave Brooklyn much trouble on the offensive end.

The trio combined to score 30 points early, but the visitors’ scoring attack was far superior.

Early on, it was D’Angelo Russell’s plays and Nic Claxton’s kills that led the way, as the Nets placed a clear emphasis on the alley-oop. That may have been a tough call considering Milwaukee deploys a Defensive Player of the Year (Antetokounmpo) and the runner-up for the same award (Brook Lopez) in its frontcourt, but the praise wasn’t evident in the first half.

Russell had 11 points and 4 assists to go along with Claxton’s eight points, but it was Cam Thomas who provided the bulk of Brooklyn’s 66 points at halftime.

Off the bench, the 23-year-old made an instant impact, exploding with 17 points in just eight minutes of action in his second game after an injury.

Cam Johnson played a supporting role, scoring 10 of his own while making two of his four attempts from beyond the arc.

The relentless offensive drive fueled a decisive 16-4 run to cap the first quarter, giving the Nets a double-digit lead, which they smoothly extended to a 66-54 halftime lead.

Faced with adversity, the hosts sank even further chaos in the third frame.

Brooklyn orchestrated a 14-2 run led by Russell and Claxton, lifting Jordi Fernández’s team to a lead of as many as 24 points in the early stages of the second half.

Just when things were starting to look bleak, the Bucks quickly recovered.

Antetokounmpo and Milwaukee’s safety duo of Bobby Portis Jr. and Gary Trent went on a 17-4 run to cut their deficit to just nine heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

But it wouldn’t last. On the verge of letting another monstrous lead crumble (see Dec. 29 loss to Orlando), Thomas and Johnson quickly returned to their offensive dominance to extend the lead to 19.

So, chaos sides changed.

The Bucks forced the Nets into a six-minute scoring drought, sparking a 20-0 run to reduce their lead to just one with 23.1 seconds left.

To make matters worse, Russell suffered an apparent leg injury and was helped to the Brooklyn locker room. In the final stretch, without their now main facilitator, the home crowd came to life.

Antetokounmpo picked up the ball and drove it to the hole, but couldn’t connect on his last-second shot. Ziaire Williams grabbed the rebound before being fouled and quickly made both free throws to increase the lead to three.

When Lillard’s attempt to tie the game failed, Johnson sprained his ankle on the rebound while falling out of bounds with 0.6 seconds left and immediately headed to the locker room. Lillard blew a second chance to tie the game, allowing the Nets to escape despite the collapse.

Having clinched the season series against Milwaukee for the first time in more than a decade and snapping a three-game losing streak, the Nets now shift their focus to Saturday’s home matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers at 6 p.m. EST.

To access the final box score for the Nets’ win over the Bucks, Click here.

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